Automatic eyelet attachment



Sept. 27, 1960 .1. LUXENBURG AUTOMATIC EYELET ATTACHMENT Filed June 10, 1957 A r roe/vs vs United States Patent Ofiice Patented sept. 27, 1960- AUTOMATIC EYELET ATTACHMENT Julius Luxenburg, 4836 Mackenzie St., Montreal,

' Quebec, Canada Filed June 10, 1957, Ser. No. 664,703 Claims priority, application Canada May 3, 1957 2 Claims. 01. 112-66) This invention relates to an eyelet sewing attachment for use with sewing machines capable of sewing a zigzag stitch, and particularly home sewing machines of this type. Eyelet sewing attachments for sewing machines of this type are known. For example, United States Patent No. 2,679,217, which issued on May 25, l954,'to'l. J. Kalanick, discloses a device comprising a fulcrum about which work is rotated while zig zag stitches are made, around the edge of the eyelet, with the sewing machine needle. This device is very simple in construction, but it has the disadvantage that a number of operations are necessary in order to prepare the material for making an eyelet. These operations include the punching of the material to be eyeletted by means of separate punches which have to. be provided with the device, placing the material on a special frame in order to keep it taut, removing the presser foot from the sewing machine, and placing the device itself on the work table of the sewing machine.

The present invention is intended to simplify the sewing of eyelets by providing a device which itself punches the material and holds the material taut without the need for a special frame. The device comprises, a frame member adapted for attachment to the presser bar of the sewing machine in place of the presser foot, material punching or irnpaling means depending from said frame member, and including a pointed portion adapted to lie adjacent the needle and substantially in the plane of movement thereof, the pointed portion being preferably fluted adjacent the needle, 21 presser foot member pivotally mounted on the frame member on a substantially horizontal axis spaced from the plane of movement of the needle, the member having a lower presser foot adjacent the irnpaling member, resilient means adapted to urge the presser foot into engagement with the impaled material, and an upper cam arm adapted to be engaged by means moving with the needle bar to pivot the cam arm against the resilient means to raise the presser foot.

The only operations necessary to put the device to use are those of replacing the presser foot attached to the sewing machine with the eyeletting device, lowering the feed mechanism of the sewing machine to disengage it from the material, and lowering the presser bar so that the material irnpaling means of the device enters the material to be eyeletted. When the sewing machine is set in operation, the material may be revolved about the material irnpaling means while a zig zag stitch is made about the edge of the punched hole. While the stitch is being made, the presser foot of the device is in engagement with the material, but when the needle is not in the process of making a stitch and is raised from the material the presser foot is removed from engagement with the material to allow it to be rotated without interference from the presser foot.

In view of the fact that the device itself is self contained, and does not require any additional components, such as a material holding frame or a punch, it can be sold to consumers at a comparatively low price. The

device itselfis so simple that it can be operated without difficulty by a person unskilled in the sewing of such eyelets.

Having regard to the foregoing, a preferred embodi ment of this invention will now be described by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an eyeletting attachment according to the invention,

Figure 2 is a front view of the attachment of Figure 1 in position on a sewing machine, and

Figure 3 is a view looking down upon a piece of material being eyeletted, the irnpaling member and the needle (in two positions) being shown in section.

In the drawings, the attachment is indicated generally at 10. A frame member 11 having a slot 12 is adapted to cooperate with the presser bar 13 (Figure 2) on a conventional sewing machine. The frame 11 is secured to the presser bar 13 by the conventional-knurled nut 14 used for securing the presser foot .to the presser bar. Depending from the frame member 11 is an irnpaling member 15 which is bent at 16 in such a manner that the point 17, when the attachment is placed on the sewing machine, is substantially adjacent the needle. The point 17 is fluted on one side at 18 to cooperate with the needle as described below. From the side of the frame 11 oppo site the irnpaling member 15 extends a bracket 19 on which a presser foot member 20 is pivotally mounted by means of a shaft 23 arranged substantially horizontally. The presser foot member 20 has an arm 22 extending downwardly and toward the point 17 of the irnpaling member 16, the arm being provided with a part annular foot member 25 generally surrounding the point 17, but offset with respect to the point 17. The member 20 also has an upwardly extending cam arm 21 having a cam surface 21A adapted to be engaged by means moving with the needle bar 27, for example, a projection 26 which may be the conventional needle clamp screw, whereby as the needle moves upwardly the projection 26 engaging the cam surface 21A pivots the member 20 on the shaft 23 and lifts the foot member 25. On the downstroke of the needle, member 20 is pivoted downwardly by spring 29 to press the foot 25 against the material. Downward movement of the member 20 in relation to the irnpaling member is limited when the device is detached, by engagement of the yoke 20A with an abutment 24 for-med on the bracket 19. e

The operation of the device is as follows:

To sew an eyelet, the conventional presser foot of the sewing machine is removed, and the attachment according to the invention is placed in the position normally occupied by the presser foot, with the notch 12 in a position to be engaged by the knurled screw 14 which is screwed tightly against the member 11. When the attachment is thus placed on the sewing machine, the point 17 is adjacent the needle and the cam surface 21A bears against the projection 26 on the needle bar 27. The attachment should be placed on the machine when the presser bar is in the raised position. In order to sew an eyelet, the machine is first set by lowering the feed mechanism so that it will not engage the material to be eyeletted. The material is then placed in such a position that the point to be eyeletted is directly below the point 17. The presser bar 13 is then lo'wered so that the point 17 enters the material as at 28 in Figure 3. The machine is set to sew a zig zag stitch, and is put into operation. As the needle bar 27 rises, the projection 26 riding on the cam surface 21A pivots the arm 20 and causes the foot 25 to lift. As the needle passes down, the spring 29 returns the member 20 to its position in engagement with the material as mentioned before. Thus, it will be seen that while the machine is in the process of making a stitch, the foot 25 is in engagement with the material but when the machine is not in the process of making a stitch, the foot 25 is not in engagement with the material so that the material can be freely rotated by hand.

, As mentioned before, the point 17 is fluted at 18 and is ofiset with respect to the centre of the foot 25. The reason for fiuting the point is that it is desirable for the needle to be as close as possible to the point 17 when making one half of a zig zag stitch so that the eyelet when sewn vw'll be as close as possible to the edge of the eyelet hole. By fiuting the point 17, the needle is permitted to pass into the hole 28, thus bringing the sewn eyelet right to the edge of the hole. The point 17 is offset so as to allow the needle sufiicient room to make a fairly wide zig-zag stitch. This will best be understood by referring to Figure 3, wherein the spike 17 is shown in a hole 28. The flute 18 is shown with the sewing needle 30 in the flute. The needle 30 is also shown in dotted lines in its other position at 31.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An eyelet forming attachment for use with a sewing machine capable of sewing a zig zag stitch in a material and having a presser bar adapted to be raised and lowered and a needle bar with a needle fixed thereon, the needle bar being spaced from the presser bar, the attachment comprising; a frame member adapted for attachment to the presser bar, material impaling means fixed on the frame member and including a pointed portion adapted to lie adjacent the needle fixed on the needle bar and substantially in the plane of movement thereof, said material impaling means adapted to remain stationary in the material when the presser bar is in the lo'wered position thereof, a presser foot member pivotally mounted on the frame member in a substantially horizontal axis spaced from the plane of movement of the needle, the presser foot member having a lower portion defining a presser foot positioned adjacent the impaling member and an upper portion defining a cam arm, resilient means associated with the frame member cooperating with the presser foot member and adapted to urge the presser foot into engagement with the material to be impaled, a projection associated with the needle bar and moving therewith, the projection being adapted to engage the cam arm on the upward movement of the needle, the cam arm being adapted when engaged by the projection to pivot the presser foot member against the resilient means to raise the presser foot in conjunction with the needle after each successive stitch so that the material may be rotated about the stationary impaling means.

2. An eyelet according to claim 1 wherein said presser foot partially surrounds said impaling means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 332,950 Schmidt Dec. 22, 1885 345,663 Blodgett July 20, 1886 393,925 Reed -1 Dec. 4, 1888 475,426 Whitney May 24, 1892 1,376,658 Unger May 3, 1921 1,991,972 Wood Feb. 19, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS 617,683 Germany Aug. 24, 1935 225,977 Switzerland May 17, 1943 262,538 Switzerland Oct. 1, 1949 

